Hear hear! I think Mr Clarkson might be the only truly British columnist left, or rather one who isn't.

I'll bet he even drinks real ale. Because it's British. Because he's British.

Nannies are British. Nanny-statism isn't. Because Britain is to Europe as Texas is to America. We don't think being a victim is a virtue. If something is dangerous, avoid it. Man up for Pete's sake.

We give just a wee dram more weight to the notion of common sense when we talk about things. We're not afraid to say that some things are bloody inane, even with a touch of self-assurance. Being right entitles you to be. To a degree. In a British (or Texan) understated sort of way.

Darryl, Bishop's Stortford, Britain

<I>"And, of course, we will ignore these too because we know that unless we’ve accidentally driven to Archangel the severe weather in question will be as frightening as an ageing labrador."</I><P>
I enjoy the manner of this man's compositions.

Mike Graphone, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

I think I'll complain to the BBC - JC should stand for parliment, and he's infringing my civil rights by not doing so.

Actually, I think I'll sue - JC, by not standing, you're causing me mental health issues.

Paulo, Milton Keynes, uk

good god - is he only 47- driving is obviously ageing.

mary, san roque, spain

It looks like Mr Clarkson versus the rest ( again). I know who´ll get my vote. To quote Bon Jovi - `I just want to live while I´m alive´.

Rita Kleppmann, Essingen,

The reality of what is going on, has no barring on the propoganda issued by the thought police of the Thatcher/Blair /Brown dictatorship. They need to keep us in a constant state of fear and panic to 1) let us know they are there and in charge and 2) divert us from the reality of their incompetent pathetic ineptitude.
They dont work themselves because they are unemployable. If they want to deny our pleasures they should set example. CYCLE to and from work. Stay away from fast food. Die before 65 to save the pension costs!

PJC, Newbury,

As far as I am concerned I ignore all government warnings - why ? because as far as I am concerned its none of their damm business what I do as long as I do not hurt other people. If I want to drive in snow (in my front wheel drive coupe) then that is my choice and I'll make my own judgement on that - if thats OK with you ?
And all the other things that we get warnings on (all food , drink and practically everything else that makes life interesting) is not what they are there for - so back off and leave me alone

Tony, Cardiff ,

Difficult as it is at times to tell the difference between his personal beliefs and his bombastic rants written purely for affect, Clarkson is right about one thing. EVERYTHING in England is limp-wristed. The weather, the food, the people. You can walk barefoot across England from the Chanel to the Irish Sea without getting so much as a callus. England is the most benign, soft, white bread country in the world. If England were a color it would be taupe. Clarkson knows this and constantly makes fun of it. Perhaps that is why he likes his high-powered cars so much. Driving them adds some excitement to an otherwise completely boring existence. Clarkson is also right in stating that you Brits are legislated to death. But your days of world Empire are over. Traveling to exciting places, meeting interesting people and then killing them is no longer an option. What's left? Nothing except bitching about your politicians and driving fast cars.

William, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Having been expatriated in the S.E.Asian tropics for 15 years, one of the things I really love is the weather here - I think the best description is "it's BIG". Rain is proper rain .. thunder is majestically impressive, and the sun is fantastically hot.

Britain is a country of blandnesses, and, leaving aside the blandness of the TV couch potatoes, the weather there, like the government and Michael Fish, is pathetic.

janda, kuala lumpur, malaysia

Thank you Jeremy, for cheering me up on this oppressively dull Tuesday....3pm getting dark, joy !

p.s. I wish The Times, wouldn't request which state I live in, this isn't USofA, it Great Boredom...Lets just have Country / County please...why must we bend to international desciptions, despite your international readers? British newspaper so lets have County not State please...Bad state of mind maybe but that's all.

Martin Hardcastle, Reading, Great Boredom, Berkshire

Here in the Alps everything just carries on as normal in snowy conditions. Most people don't have 4x4s but we all have snow tyres and get about the mountains just fine. It's a good job it was so warm for the Romans in Britain 2000 years ago because I don't think they'd invented snow wheels for chariots back then. How exactly did they produce all that CO2 to get the right wine making climate anyway - glass of vintage Cote du Severn anyone?

Max Ashton, Lescheraines, France

Tony from Leicestershire is obvisouly a civil servant.

Luke, Robin Hood's Bay, UK

Clarkson, when oh when will you lead the common sense revolution this country is screaming out for. I and millions of other normal people of this land will fight with you. common jezzer do it.

ad, chipping norton,

Whenever I read Clarkson - few other people are so entertaining when they sneer informatively, a bit like an English PJ O'Rourke - I feel inclined to say to my kids (I'm a trainee science teacher) "well its true that you shoud listen to what grown ups say, but you need to be careful because half of them talk absolute rubbish"...
cheers

Mat, Brighton, England

Reported in the Singapore Straits Times, ( In small print )
Today 2 buses collided in the monsoon rain south of Jakarta, 106 were killed, and a further 144 were injured, (how many got away it did not say.)
In a third world country it is common for a 40 passenger bus to carry 150 plus passengers, perhaps , Jeremy the place for our idiot politicians is the third world ( it would then soon become the 4th world ) before they bring us into the third world club.

Not Toobrite, Hamburg, Germany

Here in redneck Ft. lauderdale we have large bosomed weather ladies and panic merchants.

When a hurricane is within 1800 miles we go into "buy" mode and the markets are sold out of bread, water and batteries within minutes.

Don't you realize the UK government is jealous and wants to increase consumption. That's all it's marketing.

Love the show Jeremy on BBC America.

Ex Brit. What is snow ?

Arthur Pewty, Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA

Cimate of fear, anybody?

Jack Roadkill, Newtown, Wales, boyo...

The thrust of Jeremy's argument is spot on (unlike many weather f/cs.); treating the weather as something we should avoid is silly, we need to adapt to the weather conditions that we find ourselves in. The entire population of Norway, for eample must think it is hilarious that the UK stops, literally, in it's tracks every time we have a few centimetres of snow. Whats this winter going to be like? Well the Met Office weather f/c. for Winter 2007/8 uses a lot of words to say that because Winter 2006/7 was the second warmest on record for the UK, with well-above-average rainfall. Winter 2007/8 is likely to be cooler and drier than last year! Stunning news....

Another Jeremy, Taunton, UK

I'm sick to death of being told what to do by this government.

Keep up the good work Jeremy!!


The country would function a lot better if political correctness was outlawed and good old commonsense was re-discovered.

If I want to drive in the snow and wind I flippin' well will!!!

Are you listening Gordon?

A Dickinson, Nuneaton, Warks

Bless you Arthur! I just love the way some people take everything JC say's at face value. Points are are exaggerated for comedic effect or to express the ridiculous nature of the topic in question, try not to take it too seriously. Yet another funny article JC, keep em coming.

Tony , Leicestershire,

Having lived for for over 30 years between Sydney and London I have found both to be climatically unbearable. Simply not enough contrast. One needs contrast to feel alive and well - ie 4 Seasons.

I wish also to alert Jeremy to the fact that some German politicians are pushing to have all German Autobahns reduced to a driving speed of 130 km per hour. This is a truly catastrophic!!

Books, Munich, Ger,any

The reason behind all this media driven, end is nigh panic which plagues the media is the British desire for something to break the monotony of our countrys and peoples utter boringness. If you ignore the news it's amazing nothing happen's, life goes on. My resting heart rate is 80, I watched the news and it went up to 135. The fact is our country is boring and stable and the weather is for the most part, poorly. There has always been floods and stabings and peodos out there and there always will be. But they all seem to disappear when you don't read or watch the news. But you want these awful things to make you feel alive so you watch the news again and life becomes scary and exciting and less boring.

John, Galsgow, scotland

And I suppose the eyties don't flagrantly defraud the EU Agricultural budget every single year, do they Francesco. How are the gear boxes on those Italian tanks these days by the way?

Kit Carson, Carson Pass,

For God Sake, will somone please make JC PrimeMinister. This man is a Legend!!

Tyler, Rochdale, BoredShire

i think we should be encouraging the met office as much as possible - then hopefully the government will introduce a policy allwoing everyone to stay in bed when its a bit nippy outside.

mark, reading, uk

I think this is a conseguence of an american way of thinking.
In the U.S. if someone is washing the floor in a mall, or in an airport, or wherever you want, you'll see hundreds of signals advising "Wet floor - Piso mojado" . Becouse they think (and unfortunatly, sometimes it seem so) that people is stupid and we can't aspect that they are resposible of theyt actions.It's not YOU that must to look at the floor to realize that is wet, becouse you are an idiot. YOU need yo be advise, SO, the insurance company wont pay if YOU break your leg.
We live in world dominated by "formal" aspects, and nobody cares about "substantial aspects". Met advised East Anglia of the dangerous flooding so that nobody could say they dind't do it. And we loose the freedom to challenge the fate, and we loose our identity. I'm afraid that The Big Brother is not the one we see in Tv.

FRANCESCO, Treviso, Italy

Arthur from York, here's today's news from further away than your front door - 'As many as 10,000 people may have died and millions have been made homeless after Cyclone Sidr tore through Bangladesh.'

Jeremy wasn't saying it's not unpleasant to have your house flooded in England. He was just saying that in a global context it's not really that severe. I think the story above kind of justifies his comments and puts you in your place somewhat, wouldn't you say?

Bill, Sheffield,

John Mallon said "I call on the Government now to ban everyone from going out doors of any kind and introduce legislation immediately to safeguard our sacred children etc etc ........"
That is just plain silly. What is clearly needed is appropiate safety legislation and compliance enforced by govt doorway inspectors who check that doors are equipped with eco-friendly warning notices in Urdu and Polish.Task teams should then be deployed to give the public "Doorway sensitivity" workshops to encourage recycled doorway diversity and to discourage doorway use by the obese, smokers,binge drinkers etc etc................
Merry Wintertide

George Harris, Steurhof, RSA

Those weathermen/women/gnomes have it easy over there. Try giving the weather forecast here and making it interesting. Well folks just for a change it's going to be hot and humid in Singapore..... as it has been for the past 365 years.
There will not be global warming here, the government wouldn't allow it.
And Arthur from York, take a chill pill, you clearly need it.

JA, Singapore,

Hilarious, Clarkson.
Those weather forcasters are, indeed, turning into a dangerous breed of attention seekers.
They fought against those knitted 'weather presenter jumpers', now they have world domination in their grip.

Emily, London,

Regardless of the weather, the news story last week about that poor old woman of 92 who tripped going out her front door and broke her hip should bring all right thinking people to their senses. Going out your front door is positively dangerous and we know from experience that the back door is a death trap. I call on the Government now to ban everyone from going out doors of any kind and introduce legislation immediately to safeguard our sacred children etc etc ........

John Mallon, Cork,, Ireland

"I even got a suntan, which, amazingly, failed to give me cancer".

You do know that skin cancer isn't like getting a cold, right? You don't catch it the next day. If you're period in the sun had caused you to develop skin cancer, it probably wouldn't be for another few years.

Another think JC doesn't understand, along with the difference between 'climate' and 'weather' (at least so his many rants about global warming seem to suggest).

Andrew Ryan, London,

Ah water to the thirsty! Inhaler to the asthmatic! Just to hear such things said is a balm to the spirit gasping for rational opinion in a clinically insane world! Jeremy Clarkson, may your thoughts always be Ferrari red!

James Murphy, Petersfield, Hampshire

Calm down Jeremy, the nurse will be along soon. You have nothing to worry about, that nice Mr. Fish retired three years ago.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/bbcweather/forecasters/michael_fish_retirement.shtml

Harry, Manchester,

I'm usually against health & safety, Jeremy, but today I turned to your driving column and found your wife had written it. And you know what? I would really have appreciated a health & safety warning, or even a man in a high vis jacket to wave me by.

Eric, London,

Well said Jeremy. British men and women are becoming a nation of wimps. The rot set in around the time of the introduction of cycling helmets - even though there is no hard evidence that anyone's life has been saved by this gruesome-looking headgear: as children in the 60s we crashed our bikes and got grazes but in the main we survived and learned how to ride safely.

All the excess safety paraphernalia - severe weather warnings included - threatens to attenuate the national character and infantilise us all. Enough!

Britons would be amazed at how few drivers have 4 x 4 vehicles in Scandinavia where there is routinely severe winter weather for months on end. And why not? Because they know perfectly well how to drive safely and effectively in winter conditions without it.

Pleroma, Helsinki, Finland

You Brits should try a Kansas thunderstorm or a Winnipeg blizzard. I've driven the Severn river bridge in a gale, and it was a breeze.

Be honest, sever weather is weather that can kill you. And, apart from black ice in the winter, England has nothing to worry about.

Steve Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Couldn't agree with you more JC. I left the UK 6 years ago for a variety of reasons but one was how bland and dull the weather is. never hot enough to go to the beach, never cold enough to go skiing, never windy enough to require tape across the windows, never wet enough that an umbrella and a pair of wellies weren't sufficient, never dry enough to turn the place into sand - and in motoring terms certainly nothing a cheap korean "supermini" couldn't deal with, let alone one of the many 4X4s most people seem to drive in the UK now. After 4 years in Hong Kong and 2 years in Australia i now appreciate that true heat, rain, wind and drought can be dangerous, but only in the very extreme, and none of them exist to that degree in the UK.

giles, sydney, australia

there is a collective insanity emerging in england as it is in Australia . I am a citizen of both places.Perhaps a quiet place in some rotten concrete flats in the the former eastern European block with people that remember the lunacy of left and right wing totalitarianism aught to be a pre-condition of public service contracts , tenures and elected officialdom..
I think even Jeremy's sense of humour and the perspective he attempts is being severely tested.. I would not be surprised to see learned commentators being jailed for up to 56 days in the near future.

rwn, muston,

Be quiet, Arthur, York.

Where's your sense of humour?

David, London,

Once again Jeremy you have hit the nail on the head. Like you I am also 47, and have experienced extreme weather in other countries, but not in Britain. I also was not woken by the so-called hurricane of 1987, and the following morning I was wondering what the fuss was all about.
Regarding your views on global warming, as a scientist myself I can only agree with your views. Climate scientists - proper ones with decent qualifications - have not absolutely decided how much mankind affects the climate. In fact, there can never be an absolute scientific conclusion because as long as there has been a climate, there has always been climate change. Maybe you should have a word with the editors at the times about this - they last week made a big thing about the recent one-sided UN report.
Keep up the good work, Jeremy - you are the mouthpiece for a lot of people!

John Evans, Regensburg, Germany

i agree baby!

Love, guilliuth, Tinkerbell

Another of JCs articles offensive and bordering on idiocy.
I am sure those people who have had their homes wrecked and property destroyed, not to mention the resale value of their house disappear, through flooding and even cyclones think that the weather they had was quite severe enough. Then there is the looting of your home while you cannot live in it. I assume JCs house is on high ground well away from the East coast so he has nothing to worry about.
He may give a thought to Canvey island too.
Being in Death Valley for 10 days is not a hardship, Noone made you go there and I am sure you were paid very well for it. Some people do it for pleasure. Well theyre Americans. 10 days will not give you skin cancer YET. The onset of skin cancer may take years so watch the skin JC
If you want to be a stand up comic JC I suggest you change careers you will find it rather harder tha what you do here

arthur, york, uk

Bang on as usual Clarkson, though i would consider this: in the age of the compensation culture (thankyou America) if we didn't get warnings about supposedly severe weather and some light flooding did occur once in a while you can guarantee some twit will try and file a lawsiut against the Met office for failing to forewarn them about what was coming.

For once though the Met office were bang on about warning us about the supposed tidal surges of the other week. The conditions looked right for a repeat of 1953 but this time we got lucky and things just about passed us by for the most part.

angelwitch, medway, kent

"Health & Safety Ruined This Country" should be the new country motto old Gordy seems so keen on. Tomorrow, I have my accountant and the Health & Safety Officer visiting my business; I am praying for a mildly damp weather forecast to keep them away...

Mark J Daniels, Chippenham, Ely, Cambridgeshire

I was thinking of posting something funny or interesting on this, but I guess I can't be bothered today. Maybe I'll get the wife to post something lame instead - works for you in the motoring section Jezza.

Redcliffe, London,